Two wild critters that have become popular at Clear Lake are the river otter and mink. Both are seen daily by locals and tourists, and they always draw a crowd.
In fact, there is a mink that has taken up residence near the Fifth Street boat ramp at Library Park in Lakeport. It has a large following of fans who come out to see him daily. Mink were popular for women’s fur coats many years ago when a mink fur coat would sell for up to $5,000. Today a mink coat can set you back $50,000. Canada and the northern states were popular areas for trapping mink. A mink fur would sell for up to $40 back in the 1950s. The fur became so popular that mink farms were started and the mink were raised solely for their fur.
Pound for pound a mink is one of the fiercest animals in the wild. It preys on ducks and small animals such as rabbits and mice. They are also cannibals and if agitated a mother has been known to eat her young. In the days when trapping mink was popular, a mink would eat another mink that was caught in a trap. As a youngster living in Northern Minnesota I trapped mink. In those days a prime mink pelt would bring in the neighborhood of $40, a princely sum back then. I bought my school clothes by trapping mink, muskrat and beaver.
Otters are more common than mink and are scattered widely around the lake. They also draw a crowd when they appear.
While there always have been a few otters around the lake, the population of these playful critters has increased dramatically in recent years. Dock owners have reported seeing droppings as well as pieces of crawdads on their docks. Crawdads are one of the otter’s favorite foods. They also eat small fish and even baby ducks.
According to wildlife biologists, the river otter probably migrated to Clear Lake by way of Cache Creek. The creek empties into the Yolo Bypass, which has a large population of otters. Otters are very territorial and as the population in an area grows, a few otters are forced to leave and establish new territory. That is what has been happening at Cache Creek. Otters can now be found at Clear Lake, Lake Pillsbury and Indian Valley Reservoir.
Otters are the largest member of the Mustelidae family, which includes mink, skunks, weasels and badgers. Their life expectancy is about 15 years. An adult otter can weigh up to 25 pounds and grow up 4 feet long. The head is small and round and the eyes and ears are also small. Their body is perfect for swimming. An otter will spend most of his life either in or around water. Their fur is dense, which protects them from the cold. When they dive, their heart rate slows to less than 20 beats per minute, which allows them to conserve oxygen. They are incredibly fast swimmers and have little trouble catching fish.
Their main diet at Clear Lake is crayfish along with other species of fish. Once when fishing in a bass tournament along the docks at Nice I observed an otter diving and coming up with crawdads. He proceeded to climb up onto a dock and eat them, and he did this repeatedly. I told my partner that there were also bass down there feeding on the crawdads. My partner cast a plastic worm that resembled a crawdad and immediately caught a 5-pound bass. We stayed there for several hours and caught a healthy limit of bass, which won us $400, all thanks to the otter.
Another time a friend and I were fishing near a dock at Glenhaven. The dock owner came out and told us that bass fishermen were stealing the small catfish that he had been placing in a submerged fish cage. He said every afternoon he would place three or four catfish in the cage and they were gone by the next morning. Within a few minutes after the gentleman left, a large otter scrambled up on the dock. Ignoring us, he immediately went to the fish cage, opened the small trap door and slipped inside. Moments later he appeared with a small catfish in his mouth and disappeared over the side of the dock. The mystery of the missing catfish was solved.
Last year a bass fisherman was fishing near Shag Rock where an otter swam out to his boat. The otter climbed into the boat and fell sleep on the back deck. After about 30 minutes the otter woke up and dove over the side. The fisherman said it was the experience of a lifetime.
Often local dock owners complain about the mess the otters are leaving on their docks. According to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, otters are completely protected in California and cannot be killed or harassed.
Along with the many species of birds, the otter and mink are just another example of the diversity of Clear Lake.
